13: Wuguan County, wild dogs eat people

Cultivation with the aid of Medicinal Pills and cultivation without the aid of Medicinal Pills are truly two completely different dimensions.

For instance, at the Nerve-Gathering Later Stage, with Lu Chen's Aptitude and the assistance of the Nurturing Soldier Immortal Coffin, it would originally require at least a year of arduous cultivation to reach completion.

But after taking four Ascension Pills, Lu Chen completed it in just twenty days. During this period, he saved over three hundred days and nights, which is extremely exaggerated!

This is also why there are always countless Disciples in the Internal Affairs Hall going to accept various Sect missions, and it is also the advantage of Disciples from large Sects. With sufficient resources, their cultivation speed is far from comparable to those struggling rogue cultivators!

Leaving the small courtyard, Lu Chen headed straight for the Internal Affairs Hall.

After spending a good half hour inside the Internal Affairs Hall, Lu Chen finally emerged.

He accepted two missions in one go: one was to exterminate demons in Wuguan County, and the other was to investigate unusual activity in a certain area in Donghe County!

Originally, the Internal Affairs Hall did not allow its Disciples to accept multiple missions simultaneously, but as the saying goes, connections make things easier.

Deacon Hu Tai opened a back door for him, so accepting two missions simultaneously was a matter of course.

As for Zhang Bingsong's previous suggestion to go on missions in areas with demonic beast resources, Lu Chen simply ignored it.

Knowing full well that those reckless rogue cultivators were stirring up trouble, and yet insisting on going there, it's not like he had nothing better to do.

The key is, there was no extra pay!

...

Wuguan County.

County town, Juxiang Tower.

"There's no pattern to how that demon kills people! Some villages outside the county town were wiped out overnight, dozens died in the east of the city, and even more in the south of the city. We have no idea what that demon is thinking!

"Our Wuguan County has over a hundred thousand households and hundreds of thousands of people. In front of this demon, we're no different from crops growing everywhere, to be harvested however it pleases. It's causing widespread panic!

"Our Juxiang Tower used to be packed, but now you barely see a few customers all day. Everyone is hiding from that demon, afraid to go out. We don't know what tomorrow holds, or when this will end! Alas!"

The waiter at Juxiang Tower poured out his grievances to the handsome and valiant young man in green before him, sighing repeatedly. In the depths of his eyes, there was also a hint of unconcealable fear.

The young man in green was naturally Lu Chen.

The information given to him by the Sect's Internal Affairs Hall was pitifully scarce, just a simple sentence: 'Within Wuguan County, there is demonic activity. The number of demons is unknown, and their strength is estimated to be between the Qi Condensation Realm and the Spirit Transformation Realm.'

Therefore, as soon as Lu Chen arrived in Wuguan County, he began inquiring about the demon.

For demon extermination missions like this with no clear information, there are generally two approaches.

One is to ascertain the specific number, strength, and type of the demon. If one believes their strength is insufficient, they can directly return and submit the mission. There will still be Merit Points rewarded, just not many.

The second is to find the demon and completely eliminate it. The rewarded Merit Points will fluctuate depending on the number and strength of the demons.

"Has no one seen what this demon looks like?" Lu Chen thought for a moment and pressed the question.

The short, thin waiter said, "Those who saw that demon already have grass growing on their graves. Who would know what it looks like!"

No one has seen it?!

In other words, it's still questionable whether this is even demonic activity?

This is a bit troublesome!

A thought flashed through Lu Chen's mind: "Where was the most recent location of the demonic activity?"

He needed to personally go and see the deceased, at least to find out whether it was human action or demonic mischief.

The short, thin waiter was greatly alarmed: "Sir, do you intend to go and see for yourself?"

Without waiting for Lu Chen to speak, he quickly advised, "That demon is very wicked. It's best if you don't actively provoke it, sir. I heard our county magistrate has already reported this matter, and soon there will be experts from the Immortal Sect coming to subdue the demon.

"If you're really curious, sir, why not wait a bit longer? When the experts from the Immortal Sect arrive, our Wuguan County will be safe, and then wouldn't it be better to just go and look at the demon's corpse?"

Experts from the Immortal Sect?

Lu Chen's eyes flickered for a moment. Wasn't that referring to himself!

He subtly took out two taels of broken silver from his qiankun bag and handed it over: "So, where was the most recent location of the demonic activity?"

The waiter immediately beamed with joy. This extraordinary Young Master before him was truly generous, giving him an amount he couldn't earn in two months' wages with just a single gesture.

He took the silver and blurted out, "The demon's most recent activity was in Baishui Town outside the county town. This happened just yesterday."

Then, falling into hesitation again, he cautiously said, "Young Master, I advise you not to go and join this excitement. People will die!"

Lu Chen smiled: "Just asking casually, serve the dishes."

After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Chen left Tianxiang Tower.

The waiter watched Lu Chen gradually descend the stairs and couldn't help but sigh and shake his head: "What a fine young man. Why must he go and see that demon? Curiosity can truly kill!"

He withdrew his gaze and began clearing the dishes, but failed to notice that the handsome young man who had gone downstairs had silently merged into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Lu Chen burrowed underground, guided by his Copper Armor Dao Soldiers, heading straight towards Baishui Town.

He wasn't planning to interact with the county yamen officials. Demons and spirits are intelligent, perhaps even more so than the Human Race in terms of wisdom. If he went directly to the yamen, he might be discovered by the unknown demon.

Of course, it might not necessarily be a demon; it could also be a demonic cultivator. In that case, he needed to be even more careful. Investigating secretly was safer.

Baishui Town.

To the east of the town, hundreds of yamen runners, constables, and others from the county yamen had already completely surrounded the area.

Some bold commoners also stepped forward, wanting to see what the people killed by the demon looked like. It wasn't until they saw the corpses with their chests ripped open, organs dug out, heads cracked open, and brains eaten that they turned pale and fled!

The yamen officials brought out the corpses of the commoners killed by the demon one by one, finally confirming that there were as many as seventy-six deaths from yesterday's demonic disaster. All of them had their hearts and brains eaten. Some corpses also had half their heads gnawed away, leaving behind hideous teeth marks that made one's scalp tingle!

Even though those yamen runners had seen similar scenes many times before, their hair still stood on end. They always felt as if an unknown malevolent demon was watching them from the shadows.

"Damn it, how many people has this cursed demon eaten? Why hasn't the Heavens struck this beast with lightning yet!"

A yamen runner cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth.

"Soon, the experts from the Immortal Sect will be here. When that happens, I'll definitely give this beast a couple of slashes!"

"Hmm? Where did these wild dogs come from? Do they want to eat people too?"

One of the yamen runners picked up a stone and fiercely threw it at the several wild dogs that had come drawn by the smell of blood.

The wild dogs ran away for a while but still refused to leave, not until the yamen runners drew their knives and, with lightning speed, cut down two of them. Only then did the remaining wild dogs whimper and yelp as they scattered and fled.

"Bah, if I can't kill that demon, I can still cut down a few of you wild dogs!"

A yamen runner cursed angrily, still feeling unsatisfied. He picked up stones and chased after them, throwing wildly until he chased the last few wild dogs into the mountains.

"Wild dogs that dare to eat human flesh!"

A tall, sturdy constable, Captain Song, frowned and stepped forward. He came before one of the wild dogs that had been cut down, kicked it twice, then suddenly drew his knife and cut open the dog's belly. From inside the dog's stomach, he actually found a small section of bone that hadn't been completely digested.

"Captain Song, it's a human finger bone." An experienced coroner stepped forward, took a look, and said with a grim expression.

Captain Song's expression immediately turned grim: "Go, slaughter those wild dogs that got away."

It's one thing for a demon to eat people, but a few wild dogs dare to eat people too?

They've gone against the Heavens!